Motives of a Serial Killer

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Psychopathic serial killers suffer from traits of personality characteristics. Some of the common ones are antisocial personality disorder and dissocial personality disorder. They lack guilt and empathy and they have a strong ego. They only follow the rules that they have set for themselves. Most of the time, they appear to be normal and charming.

One of the most famous psychopathic serial killers is Charles Milles Maddox aka Charles Manson. At one time Manson was only a small time perpetrator going to jail for stealing cars and burglary. In 1956, Manson was again sent to jail for stealing checks and cars. His wife eventually left him and they were divorced in 1957. Manson spent the next 6 years in prison, where he decided to work on his music. It became an obsession for him. Manson believed he would become famous once he was released from prison.

Once released, he moved to San Francisco with his guitar and drugs. He began to develop a following and they all eventually moved into the Spahn Ranch. This area was a popular spot for the filming of western movies in the 1940s-50s. Once Manson and his “family” took over, it became the compound for his cult. Manson was extremely talented at manipulating his followers. He had his own philosophy that he would grind into their heads. Manson believed that the Beatles White Album song “Helter Skelter” predicted a race war was going to happen in the summer of 1969. He manipulated his followers into believing the blacks were going to slaughter all of the whites. Manson told them that if they followed him he would lead them into a city of gold located in Death Valley. This “Helter Skelter” never occurred, but Manson made it his own mission to start the slaughter. He said to his followers that “he and his followers must show the blacks how to do it.”

Four of Manson’s followers murdered an actress named Sharon Tate along with her unborn baby. Among her, 4 others we murdered who were there visiting Tate. The following night, Manson’s followers killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home.

It took the police several months to find the ones responsible for these despicable crimes. In December of 1969, Manson and several followers were arrested. On January 25th, Manson was found guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Manson was sentenced to death in 1971, but was reprieved in 1972. He is now serving a life sentence and every now and again he comes up for parole. Manson has been in prison for over 3 decades and he is still receiving the most mail out of all the prisoners in the United States. He currently is being held in California’s Corcoran Prison.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Psychotic serial killers are the ones who are legally insane. They do not know right from wrong. Some claim to hear voices, hallucinate, and see visions before they commit their murders. “The Son of Sam” aka David Berkowitz is a psychotic serial killer.

It has been debated whether or not a person born this way or if they are a product of their environment. Most serial killers do show signs of being psychotic. In 1989, one psychotic serial killer who was convicted on 43 counts, including 13 murders is Richard Ramirez aka “The Night Stalker.” He was a strong believer in the devil and at times referred to himself as Satan. Starting in the spring of 1985, the city of Los Angeles lived in fear of Ramirez. They added locks to their doors and windows, and many people invested in security systems. He was dubbed “The Night Stalker” because he only killed at night. Ramirez would break in to peoples’ bedrooms and kill them while they slept. Some people believed he snapped due to seeing his cousin murder his wife. Ramirez’s first victim was a 79 year old woman named Jennie Vincow. She was stabbed repeatedly with her throat slashed so deep she was nearly decapitated. Eight months later, Ramirez would strike again.

On October 3, 1989 the jury had voted for the death penalty. This only took 4 days of deliberations. Once sentenced, Ramirez left smiling and saying “Big deal, death always went with the territory.” Once he was in shackles he turned to reporters and said “I’ll see you in DisneyLand.” On November 9th, he was officially sentenced to 19 death sentences. After sentencing, Ramirez said to the court “You do not understand me. I do not expect you to. You are not capable of it. I am beyond your experience. I am beyond good and evil. Legions of the night, night breed, repeat not the errors of night prowler and show no mercy. I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells within us all." He always argued that he was just misunderstood.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Comfort killers kill because they enjoy material gain and comfortable lifestyles. Most of the time, the victims are family members and close friends. Most comfort killers use some type of poison, mostly arsenic. Females are common as comfort killers, but there are many men as well. Most comfort killers have been convicted previously for fraud, theft, non payment of debts, and embezzlement.

Dorothea Helen Puente was female comfort killer. Born January 9th, 1929 in Redlands, California Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California. There she would cash the social security checks of her elderly and mentally disabled guests. If anyone complained they were killed and buried in her yard. Most people who stayed there had mixed feelings about how she ran the place. Her motives for killing her victims were plain and simply for financial gain. She was making more than $5,000 a month from the victims she killed. When police began investing, seven bodies were discovered. Ultimately, Puente was charged with 9 murders. She was only convicted of 3; however, she was sentenced to two life sentences. On March 27th, 2011 Puente died in prison of natural causes. She was 82 years old.

Another comfort serial killer is Richard Leonard “The Iceman” Kulkinski. Born April 11th, 1935 Kulkinski was a mobster and a contract killer. He was 6’5” and 300 lbs. He claimed to have killed over 250 men between 1948 and 1986. He also claims to have made his first kill when he was only 13. His older brother was a convicted child rapist and murderer. On December 17, 1986 Kulkinski was arrested by a federal agent on a sting operation to sell Kulkinski cyanide for a planned murder. A gun was later found in his car. Kulkinski was charged with five counts of murder and six weapons violations. He was also charged with attempted murder, robbery and attempted robbery. In 1988, Kulkinski was convicted of five murders and he was sentenced to consecutive life sentences. He will be able for parole at the age of 110. In 2003, he pled guilty to a 1980 murder of an NYPD detective and had another 30 years added to his sentence. On March 5th, 2006 Kulkinski died at the age of 70. His death was considered suspicious because he was supposed to testify against different crime bosses.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Power seeker serial killers have the ability to manipulate the behavior of other people to make it more in accordance to their own. They feel they have ultimate power over their victims.

In Texas at the time of 1950, a pediatric nurse would claim the lives of at least 50 people, 16 of which were infants. Her name was Genene Jones. Her method of killing her victims was done by lethal injections. Her victims were mostly young children who were admitted to the hospital. Jones felt she was very important due to the fact that she was a primary medical caretaker for the hospital. Like her, most offenders who are power seekers gain some sort of psychological satisfaction as they feel they are being praised by the patients and their families. Genene Jones received 99 years for these crimes.

In Georgia in 1955, a woman by the name of Martha Ann Johnson killed her own 4 children. By the time Johnson was 22 years old she had already been married 3 times. She had 4 children in this time and she killed everyone one of them one at a time. She confessed to killing 3 of the children. She would suffocate her children as they slept by rolling over on them. The motive that she gives was that every time her and her husband would get into an argument, she would kill a child. She was later executed for these crimes.

Born in 1963, Christine Falling pled guilty to 3 murders by the year 1982. Most thought she was mentally challenged and she had a history of animal abuse. She was also on medication to treat her epilepsy. Her mother however, believes that her mental problems came from a blow to the head by a club when she was an adolescent. Falling was married the first time when she was 14. This was a short lived marriage. She eventually became a babysitter and then confessed to killing 3 children in her care. Falling was convicted and sent to prison where she is serving 3 life sentences.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Gain killers kill for the simple reason of financial or materialistic gain. In some cases, it isn’t the main motive, but most serial killers do steal from their victims for their own personal gain. It is more common that these types of serial killers are female.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a woman who would treat Barcelona residents for TB or syphilis. Her name was Enriqueta Marti. Also known as “The Vampire of Barcelona” and she was a gain serial killer. One of her other activities included prostituting young children. She would lure them into her house. Once she was done prostituting them, she would use their rendered fat, skin, muscles, bones and hair in her medicines that she sold to the people for a high price. In March of 1912, 2 young girls were able to escape from her home. They witnessed Marti killing a young boy and reported it to the police. When her property was searched, police found body parts, jars of blood, fat, and recipe books written in her handwriting. It was very specific to her ingredients she used for her medicine she sold. Marti was killed in prison by her own cellmates before her trial. Her body count was at least 12.

In Victorian England, there were areas called baby farms. If a woman could not raise her child she gave them to the baby farmer to raise their child. In the late 1800s, Amelia Dyer a.k.a. “The Baby Farmer” placed ads that women answered to. She was a married woman in her 50s who had a Christian husband in the ThamesValley region. No one saw her husband due to them being separated. Dyer would promise to raise the babies that were left in her care. As soon as she returned to her flat however, she strangle the infant, place them in a bag, and then continue to throw them into the Thames. On March 30, 1896 a bargemen spotted a package on the river. When opened, he discovered the body of a small infant girl. On a piece of paper the police were able to make out a faint address. The police set up a sting operation to try and catch Dyer in the act. When Dyer opened up the door, the police were waiting for her. 12 dead infants were found in the river, many matching the same demise with the string around their necks. Dyer’s house was also full of baby items. Many women eventually came out stating they left their babies with her. On June 10, 1896, Dyer was sentenced to death by hanging at the Newgate Gallows. Although 12 bodies were found, it is believed she had killed up to as many as 50.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Thrill seeking serial killers are usually fearless. They feel that punishment will not work due to them being impulsive and fearless of what may happen to them. Among the list of thrill seekers, Ted Bundy stands out.

He was born Theodore Bundy on November 24th, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont in a home for unwed mothers. His father still remains unknown. It is believed that his first victim was an 8 years old girl named Ann Marie Burr. Bundy was only fourteen or fifteen at the time. His earliest confirmed murder was in 1974 at the age of 27. He snuck into a bedroom of an 18 year student at the University of Washington. There he beat her with a metal rod while she slept. She was found the next morning in a coma with the object rammed deep into her vagina. She survived but had permanent brain damage. Bundy was arrested on August 16, 1975 in Salt Lake City for failure to stop for a police officer. Evidence was found in his car to suspect him of burglary. He was eventually convicted of multiple murders, which he decided to defend himself on in court.On January 24th, 1989 at age 42, Ted Bundy was executed by electricity. His last words were “I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.” He was pronounced dead at 7:16 a.m.

A recent case of thrill seekers are two men by the names of Samuel Dietman and Dale Hausner who both carried out a shooting spree that killed two people and wounded multiple others. Both men described what they did as random recreational violence. They also compared themselves to the D.C. Snipers. Dietman, 31 is facing 2 murder counts and many other counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. Hausner, 34 is accused of seven murder counts and other criminal counts. Both of these men pleaded not guilty. They would drive the streets of Phoenix, and randomly shoot at people from the window of Hausner’s car. Both men eventually were charged with 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 14 counts of aggravated assault and 16 counts of drive-by shooting. Hausner was acquitted for 2 murders. He accused Dietman of using his guns and car without his knowledge. On April 4, 2008, Dietman plead guilty to the counts of first-degree murder. This was a plea bargain for him to testify against Hausner. Hausner was eventually found guilty for 6 of the 8 murders on March 13th, 2009. On March 27th, 2009 Hausner was sentenced to 6 death penalties. Dietman however was sentenced to only one life sentence.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Lust serial killers kill for the erotic satisfaction. They gain sexual arousal with the death of their victims. It is one of the most common types of motives among serial killers. Usually the victim is someone the killer is sexually attracted to. Most lust killers are male, although a rare occasion of female lust killers appears.

In Portland, Oregon between 1968 and 1969 a man named Jerry Brudos would stalk, rape, and torture women. He was known as “The Lust Killer” and “The Shoe Fetish Slayer.” His first crime on record was at the age of 17 when he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Oregon for trapping a girl in a hole he dug holding the girl at knife-point. The purpose of the hole was to make her his sex slave. He went on to force her to pose nude while he took pictures. He was eventually released after only 9 months. However, it was clear that Brudos felt he had the need to act violently towards women. It was discovered that is strong violence towards women was from his hatred of his mother. Brudos attacked many women, although some were able to escape giving the police the information they needed to catch him. Police searched Brudos’s house and uncovered the evidence needed to convict him. He was charged with three of the four murders. Brudos had a collection of body parts and women’s underwear stored in his home. Brudos was found dead in the Oregon State Penitentiary on March 28th, 2006. He was 67 years old and it was determined he died of natural causes.

Jane Toppan, born Honora Kelley, was of the few female American serial killers. Born in 1857, she confessed to 31 murders in 1901. Her ambition was “to have killed more people-helpless people-than any other man or woman who ever lived…” In 1885, Toppan began her training as a nurse at CambridgeHospital. She would use her patients in experiments with morphine and atropine. She was interested it the effect this had on their nervous system. She spent countless hours with her patients, medicating them until they were unconscious and then eventually getting into bed with them. It is still unknown whether sexual acts occurred, but when Toppan was asked after her arrest, she explained that she developed a sexual thrill from her patients being near death, coming back to life and then dying again. Once her patients were drugged, she would lay close to them until they died. She is one of the rarest forms of serial killers due to the fact that most female serial killers murder for material gain. In 1902, Toppan confessed to 11 murders. On June 23, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was therefore committed to life in the TauntonInsaneHospital. It was soon revealed by the New York Journal that Toppan confessed to her lawyer of killing more than 31 people. She was hoping to eventually be released, but remained in the hospital for the rest of her life.